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Vinony

shrub

noun

  1. type of plant
L27054 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈʃɹʌb/ / [ˈʃʰɹʷʌb] / /ˈʃɹʊb/

name

Etymology: A play on his surname Bush, a shrub being a smaller bush, thus indicating that he is the junior Bush in relation to his father George H. W. Bush. Popularized by American newspaper columnist Molly Ivins (1944–2007), who co-wrote Shrub: The Short But Happy Political Life of George W. Bush (2000) with Lou Dubose.

  1. George W. Bush (born 1946), the 43rd president of the United States (2001–2009).

    “Ann Richards [...] is running for reelection as Governor of Texas against George W. Bush, a Republican and the eldest son of the former President. […] She derides him as “all hat and no cattle.” […] Her followers hand out bumper stickers saying: “Don't elect the son-of-a-Bush.” They call him “Shrub.””

    “For the past five days, mostly in New York and SC, the Shrub has apparently been running ads that characterize McCain’s policy proposals in what Murphy terms a “willfully distorting” way.”

noun

Etymology: Of unknown origin. First attested in the 2000s. Chiefly used in respect to English or Swahili pronounced in a manner characteristic of another Kenyan language.

  1. A word mispronounced by replacing some consonant sounds with others of a similar place of articulation as influenced by one's mother tongue.

    “It is not only in face-to-face contexts that Kenyans police shrubbing; there are newspaper columns inviting readers to send in shrubs that they have witnessed, […]”

    “One of the first people to go on air on X Fm, Raabia (It’s not a kuyu [Kikuyu] shrub for labia) is about to exit the station, she’s being replaced by Mao (their lispy producer) […]”

verb

Etymology: Of unknown origin. First attested in the 2000s. Chiefly used in respect to English or Swahili pronounced in a manner characteristic of another Kenyan language.

  1. To mispronounce (a word or words) in another language in a manner that is influenced by one's mother tongue.

    “The people who benefit from making fun of shrubbing, therefore, are Kenyans who do not speak indigenous languages, because they are less likely to shrub than Kenyans who learned English as a second language in school and may have a heavier accent.”

    “However, Mwandani and her brother had noted that their mother had shrubbed and pointed it out right away.”